On the final day of the NFDC Film Bazaar held alongside the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), a new cross-border partnership between two of Asia’s most prominent film and television co-production project markets has been forged with a multi-year collaboration with the NFDC Film Bazaar, the Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association (SAAVA) & the ATF IP Accelerator Project Market (AIPA) which is held during the Asia TV Forum & Market (5 – 8 December) situated at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore.
The project market partnership signed with SAAVA – which co-organises AIPA – and NFDC primarily arranges an exchange of projects in development and/or work-in-progress between them, starting this year, with Becoming, a feature-length India-South Korea production from the Documentary section of Film Bazaar’s Co-Production Market going to AIPA 2023. Next year, one or more of AIPA’s projects in the current edition will be given an automatic entry into 2024’s edition of the Film Bazaar’s Co-Production Market.
Secondarily, coupled with the recent announcement of the increased Indian film incentive schemes, the growing partnership between the two content financing platforms details a deeper drive to accelerate South Asian co-productions and co-financing across the Asia-Pacific, and in particular, with Southeast Asia via the strategic involvement of Singapore as a gateway to the region.
SAAVA executive director Justin Deimen, who is also a mentor at Film Bazaar’s Producing Workshop 2023 said, “India shares a deep cultural bond with the rest of the world by having the most exportable global content base. It is also surprisingly one of the last frontiers of active global co-productions hubs to be fully set up with their government now committing to raising the profiles of their producers’ financing and creative collaborations internationally. I’m confident the partnership with NFDC will pay dividends for producers in the rest of the Asia-Pacific, and I’m excited to have the Film Bazaar’s projects with AIPA in the coming years, as we aim to scale up the already impressive quality of our market in Singapore.”
NFDC managing director Prithul Kumar noted, “Uniting cultures through the language of cinema, our collaboration with SAAVA and AIPA signifies a transformative journey in Asian co-productions, Becoming sets the stage for an inspiring exchange between India and the broader Asian market. This partnership not only accelerates creative ventures but also harnesses India’s burgeoning film incentives, leveraging Singapore’s strategic position to amplify diverse voices and narratives across the Asia-Pacific. Together, we embark on an exciting chapter, shaping the global landscape of storytelling.”
Becoming also joins the official unveiling and announcement of 14 other multi-platform projects vying to pitch to over 30 Project Catalysts around the world at AIPA 2023 this year. The pool of 2023’s submissions to AIPA proved to be competitive and broke records with over 130 submissions from 19 countries/regions. This year, in addition to the Film Bazaar prize, AIPA is presenting two prizes from Red Digital Cinema and AV8 Media worth up to US$25,000 each, as well as the 108 Media’s Development Award, worth up to S$15,000.
Speaking on behalf of Becoming, producer Rohan K. Mehta said, “We’re honoured and excited to present our project to AIPA in Singapore. Thank you to NFDC Film Bazaar for giving selecting our project and presenting it at the Co-Production Market (Documentary) 2023 and to SAAVA for making us a part of your esteemed market. It will be our first-time visiting Singapore, and we look forward to a productive and interactive session at the market.”